Q: How did the knowledge of who your character would grow up to be affect your portrayal of Young Scrooge?
A: Scrooge the character doesn’t know how he will end up later in life. So I can only create what Scrooge is going through at the moment in the scene. My job as Young Ebenezer is to shed light on HOW Scooge becomes what he is. In a scene in act 2 we see Ebenezer is very much in love with Belle. Ebenezer wants nothing more than to have the best life possible for his new fiance. The only way Ebenezer can do this, in his mind, is to work harder and longer to ensure their finances won’t be a problem. However, his work becomes a bigger part in his life than his fiance, resulting in Belle leaving him. This ultimately shapes who Scrooge will become.
But this scene does reveal that Ebenzer wasnt always the stingy, ill-spirited man we know at the begining of the play. As an actor I can’t think about the future life of the character, I can only live in the moment. In life you never really know how your decisions today will affect your life tomorrow.